NEW YORK — A 1714 violin crafted by the renowned Antonio Stradivari has the potential to set a record for the price of a musical instrument when it is auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York this Friday.

The auction house anticipates that the “Joachim-Ma Stradivarius” will fetch between $12 million and $18 million. If it reaches the upper estimate, it could surpass the previous record of $15.9 million, achieved in 2011 for another Stradivarius known as the “Lady Blunt,” which was made in 1721 and is recognized by Guinness World Records as the highest-priced instrument sold at auction.

According to Mari-Claudia Jimenez, president of Sotheby’s Americas and head of global business, this violin was created during Stradivari’s “Golden Period,” a time starting around 1700 when his craftsmanship saw significant enhancements.

“This represents the pinnacle of his work,” Jimenez explained. “This is the finest violin from this particular period.”

Sotheby’s highlights the exceptional condition of the violin and its remarkable provenance. The violin bears the names of two distinguished musicians who once owned it: Joseph Joachim, a Hungarian virtuoso who lived from 1831 to 1907, and Si-Hon Ma, a Chinese musician who moved to the United States in 1948 and passed away in 2009.

It is suggested that the legendary composer Johannes Brahms drew inspiration from the Joachim-Ma Stradivarius when he composed his “Violin Concerto in D Major,” thanks to the instrument’s rich and resonant sound. Joachim is known to have performed on this violin during the premiere of the concerto in 1879, as reported by Sotheby’s.

Ma purchased the violin in 1969, and following his passing, his estate donated it to the New England Conservatory in Boston, where Ma himself studied and earned a master’s degree in 1950. The conservatory has decided to auction the violin, with all proceeds intended for student scholarship funding.